1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to security barriers and their electronic control and monitoring systems.
2. Background of the Invention
Crash rated barriers and bollards are used to provide an officer with a device to prevent a vehicle attempting to penetrate the secure perimeter of a facility with malicious intent. Installation and operation of crash rated barriers is utilized to protect both government, commercial and private facilities against such threats. Simultaneously it allows ingress and egress to the facility resulting in the end user having to determine tradeoffs for security versus safety. The barriers are designed and certified to withstand attacks from heavy vehicles traveling at high rates of speed; which could result in catastrophic damage to the vehicle and potential injury or death to its occupant(s). However; the barriers and their control systems are not able to distinguish a threat vehicle from a non-threat vehicle. While the barrier manufacturers provide for certain safety features to help prevent improper activation of the barrier or bollard, such features are not always reliable. Furthermore; the barrier control systems provided by the manufacturers are designed and programmed to simply activate the barrier to move from the unsecure position to the secure position and vice versa regardless of the existing conditions. Existing barrier manufacturers utilize certain equipment including limit switches, pressure gauges, and loop detector modules to provide their control system with inputs by which to determine barrier position and thus proper activation of the barriers. However; such components are subject to failure resulting in improper or incomplete operation of the barrier. While most manufacturers provide a preventative maintenance schedule for inspection and/or replacement of equipment or components, such maintenance schedules generally cannot help predict potential failure of the equipment.
There exists a need to provide an overall integrated control system which will predict potential failures in barriers, while simultaneously using control of the equipment to allow for safe and secure operation of the barrier system until maintenance or repairs can be performed.